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bear_reads_books's review against another edition
5.0
I must admit I’m a little intimidated by this attempt to review Noah Hawley’s latest novel. Only because it’s difficult to concisely describe everything this epic tale covers and how I felt reading it. Right off the bat I can say Noah Hawley is one of my favorite authors. His writing never fails to impress me. Diving into one of his books is like binge watching the best kind of tv show, full of heart, drama and thrills. He’s a master at entertaining you while making you think.
In regards to Anthem, I believe Hawley has truly outdone himself. Setting his novel in the very near future, he attempts to include every issue the world and the United States specifically are dealing with and make sense of it all and I believe he succeeded. Writing this must have taken a lot of research and I imagine a whole lot of stress. Has anyone checked on Noah Hawley, is he okay?
A group of young adults are drawn together on an epic quest in the hopes of building their own utopia, starting over and eschewing the world the previous generations have given them. That’s the gist but doesn’t begin to fully describe the plot. I would sum it up as Stephen King’s The Stand reimagined for the modern era. There’s even a character who chooses the name Randall Flagg for himself so I don’t think I’m too far off in that assessment.
When I got to the end I immediately started over again, something I never do. I think Anthem is such an important read. Hawley does an amazing job of explaining and making sense of the political divide in the United States in an unbiased way. There’s also plenty of facts and figures concerning the effects of global warming and other issues.
Which is why I will say this novel isn’t for everyone. Due to being all about the very real and serious things going on in the world, the subject matter can be anxiety inducing. I know I felt tense pretty much the whole way through! We are inundated constantly with doom and gloom online and feeling the strain in our daily lives. Sometimes you read to escape reality for awhile and if you’re sensitive or not able to read about what we’re all going through right now, this book might not be for you.
While there are content warnings galore, I wholeheartedly believe you should give Anthem a try. While Hawley doesn’t sugarcoat anything, he does leave you feeling like change is still possible.
Maybe there’s hope for us yet.
Expected publication date: January 4th, 2022
Thank you Grand Central Publishing and Netgalley for the e-ARC
Review also posted at my blog
In regards to Anthem, I believe Hawley has truly outdone himself. Setting his novel in the very near future, he attempts to include every issue the world and the United States specifically are dealing with and make sense of it all and I believe he succeeded. Writing this must have taken a lot of research and I imagine a whole lot of stress. Has anyone checked on Noah Hawley, is he okay?
A group of young adults are drawn together on an epic quest in the hopes of building their own utopia, starting over and eschewing the world the previous generations have given them. That’s the gist but doesn’t begin to fully describe the plot. I would sum it up as Stephen King’s The Stand reimagined for the modern era. There’s even a character who chooses the name Randall Flagg for himself so I don’t think I’m too far off in that assessment.
When I got to the end I immediately started over again, something I never do. I think Anthem is such an important read. Hawley does an amazing job of explaining and making sense of the political divide in the United States in an unbiased way. There’s also plenty of facts and figures concerning the effects of global warming and other issues.
Which is why I will say this novel isn’t for everyone. Due to being all about the very real and serious things going on in the world, the subject matter can be anxiety inducing. I know I felt tense pretty much the whole way through! We are inundated constantly with doom and gloom online and feeling the strain in our daily lives. Sometimes you read to escape reality for awhile and if you’re sensitive or not able to read about what we’re all going through right now, this book might not be for you.
While there are content warnings galore, I wholeheartedly believe you should give Anthem a try. While Hawley doesn’t sugarcoat anything, he does leave you feeling like change is still possible.
Maybe there’s hope for us yet.
Expected publication date: January 4th, 2022
Thank you Grand Central Publishing and Netgalley for the e-ARC
Review also posted at my blog
pmdrc's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
purplefish101's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I found this book depressing although I did get to like some of the characters. It does get exciting towards the end but takes an awfully long time to get to that part.
d3monology's review against another edition
Was boring quickly after the first 50 pages. Lost all inspiration. Became suddenly very cringe and preachy. The final straws? He described a character as “biracial handsome” (????) and said that a jpeg was the epitome of the universe. Stop trying so hard!
shirleytupperfreeman's review against another edition
Wow - this was a wild ride. Hawley has woven a story, with a few essays mixed in, from all the extremes in American society as we enter 2022. Consequently, the story has lots of guns, anxiety meds, power and money hungry adults, climate concerns, suicides, references to anti-masking and the capitol riot. You name it, it's probably in here. The story centers mostly on a group (loosely connected) of young people who end up on a quest to rescue some other young people from a bad guy known as the Wizard - a rich and powerful businessman/sexual predator. Occasionally, the author stops the story to speak directly with the reader - in one case apologizing for there being so many guns in the story but then explaining why they're necessary in a story about the current state of affairs. This novel will be talked about when it comes out in January!
the_enobee's review against another edition
2.0
Way too heavy handed and not enough character development. I get wanting to capture current times, but I don’t need to be spoon fed political allegory. I can actually infer some things, thank you.
myyours's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
0.75
What a letdown. Hawley is a great TV writer, so I had high hopes when I learned he had written some books. Reminds me of an alternate timeline book that I would have tried to write about modern times. I would have started with good intentions but I know it would have turned into an irritating, boring mess.
There’s little creativity here. Low stakes for such a big stakes setup. The narration is sloppy and all over the place. It’s at times a hybrid between fiction and a memoir, and it fails at both.
And he seemingly got so bored of it himself that he didn’t write much of an ending.
.75 because of that creepy witch, though.
There’s little creativity here. Low stakes for such a big stakes setup. The narration is sloppy and all over the place. It’s at times a hybrid between fiction and a memoir, and it fails at both.
And he seemingly got so bored of it himself that he didn’t write much of an ending.
.75 because of that creepy witch, though.
duparker's review against another edition
4.0
Creative and well thought out. This book is a mixture of genres and plays to their strengths. I really enjoyed the characters in the plot and how the author inserted himself into the story at times. It's almost a mixture of fiction and nonfiction when that happens. Well done
ers407's review against another edition
4.0
Anyone in need of a reality check should read this. And I believe that’s most people..